“A woman who had boasted to me about Nova Scotia on her own bottom found herself so hungry and cold that she placed her x mark on indenture papers, giving up her freedom for two years in exchange for the promise of room and board.” (P454) This passage is significant because it shows irony of the situation as the reason the Africans came to Nova Scotia was to be free from slavery and now they want to be slaves in order to live. This situation shows us that even when the slaves are free they depend on the British to survive. The British promised the former slaves Freedom when they reached Nova Scotia along with Land. The Africans needed this land in order to be self-sufficient and not be dependent on the British, but they didn’t provide them…show more content… 524) In this passage Aminata decides to go back to Africa and then thinks of what the Africans would say. The reasons she thinks about what the Africans would ask about her family is because in that time period women were treated as inferior gender. Usually, it was thought that a woman was a man’s property and when Aminata travels back to Africa people will think of her differently because she had no husband. It would seem awkward to the Africans because they see the men as leaders of a family or in general, but Aminata is different she spent most of her life independently and differently than the Africans as she could not depend on Chekura to lead her and had to take the responsibility herself, which helped her develop into an independent woman, this is why she worries of how she be viewed because she wouldn’t fit into society and would not be trusted. This shows us that the society that Aminata live is ruled by people in power who oppress others which does not necessarily have to be the British and the Slaves. In this case the people in power are man as they are thought to be better than woman, this was not just in Africa but throughout western society as well where white women didn’t have the same privileges as white men. But being different then the norm and being independent made Aminata a stronger person which helped her survive because if she was dependent…show more content… A route south from there led to the coast, far east of Bance Island. When we get there, Alassane said, I will sell the woman. What will you sell her for? It doesn’t matter. We shall see. Five bolts of cloth perhaps. She is old but she speaks many languages. ……… For a moment I couldn’t believe the words. Surely Alassane would honour his promises to me.” (612) In this passage, Aminata is travelling with Alassane who agreed to take her to her Village Bayo in exchange for three barrels of rum. At night Aminata listens to Alassane talk about selling Aminata in a nearby Village. This passage is significant for multiple reasons, the first being that her vast knowledge and ability to speak different languages helped Aminata escape Alassane and his men. Aminata purposely never told Alassane that she spoke Fulfulde and when Alassane talked about selling Aminata she quickly found out and could make her escape. If Aminata did not know how to speak Fulfulde she would have been sold and become a slave all over again. This shows that her intelligence helped her survive because if she had told Alassane that she speaks Fulfulde she would never have escaped and would be a slave all over again. Also if she didn’t know how to speak Fulfulde she wouldn’t have survived not only this situation but many other. The second reason this passage is significant is because it shows us
